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Nintendo Polygon
The Nintendo Polygon '''is a 9th generation home-console successor to the '''Nintendo Switch '''made by Nintendo in collaboration with Step Ahead Studios. It was made to indirectly compete with the PlayStation 5 Pro and Xbox Series X. It features an optical disk drive to run Polygon-exclusive games, as well as a Nintendo Switch Cartridge slot, to run games in TV mode only. History Development Following the low sales of the Wii U and the success of the 3DS, Nintendo were hesitant to make a standard home console again, opposed to a "Switch 2". In May 2021, they were approached by Step Ahead Studios, a small, indie game developer company, about being acquired and helping them develop games and consoles. Nintendo agreed, with a 90:10 profit cut on all games and consoles made by Step Ahead, as well as funding any approved projects. Nintendo specified that the new console would need a switch cartridge slot, to run all switch games in TV mode, as backwards compatibility is "very important in the 9th generation." At E3 2021, Nintendo hinted at the "future of Nintendo Switch," with Doug Bowser saying that a "console that continues to support Nintendo Switch for years to come." Nothing to do with the console was shown, but it was believed a 2022-2023 release was likely. Shortly after, in August 2021, the official codename of the console, the NX2, was revealed at a press conference. Due to this, it was speculated the console was either the long-awaited Switch Pro, or a Switch 2 that had been thrown around a few times when talking about Nintendo's next move. Because of this, fan-renders showed off a more premium Switch, instead of a new console. In February 2022, the controller for the console leaked. It was revealed that Nintendo had chosen a standard controller as their main controller, as opposed to something that follows the recent trend of "innovation," like the Wii Remote, or Gamepad. It was much more akin to a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, rather than the detatchable Joy-Cons. Also shown in the leak was the disk drive and cartridge slot, which proved it was in fact a successor to the Nintendo Switch, rather than a Switch Pro. Announcment At E3 2022, the Polygon was officially revealed to the public. The console was aimed towards more serious gamers, likely to try and drag in people who had bought the PS5 and Xbox Series X, while still showing how it aimed towards less-serious gamers, with more classic Nintendo games being shown. In terms of specs, it was about halfway between the PS4 Pro and PS5 in graphics. Alongside the Polygon, Sony and Xbox unveiled their PS5 Pro and Xbox Series X2, to be released in early-2023. This meant Nintendo had the upper hand, due to the Polygon being released in late-2022. Nintendo announced that, like Microsoft, they would have support for all previous-generation accessories and games from the Switch, as well as still developing games for the Switch for "at least the next year." It would use the same Nintendo Online network and subscriptions could be used on both Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Polygon. Along with the Polygon being shown, the controller was revealed. It resembled the Switch Pro Controller, however, there was a "swap" button on the console, with two arrows pointing in opposite directions on top of each other. This was titled the "Game Swap" button, revealing the gimmick of the console. The Polygon could run two "AAA titles" at once, with one obviously being suspended. With a press of the Game Swap button, you could switch over to another game. It was mentioned that the console has measures in place to save your game and exit should the title not being played cause the system to run out of RAM. A number of 1st party titles were revealed, the headline being Super Mario Galaxy 3, a true sequel over Super Mario Galaxy Deluxe on Switch, which packaged both Galaxy 1 and Galaxy 2 into one cartridge with HD graphics. '''Splatoon 3 was briefly shown, with planned release in October 2023, as well as the Metroid Prime Trilogy UHD, a 4k remaster of the original 3 Metroid Prime games, planned as a launch title. A number of 3rd party titles were also shown, including a remaster of''' the original three '''Skylanders games, a port of Sonic The Hedgehog (2021) '''and a gameplay reveal of '''Bayonetta 4. The official pricing was $400 for the base edition, and $500 for the Deluxe Edition, which came with the Polygon Pro Controller, Super Mario Galaxy 3, and a 1 year subscription to Nintendo Online (formerly Nintendo Switch Online), which would later be extended to 1.5 years due to a network outage shortly after the launch of the Polygon due to the new users pouring into the older servers. Marketing and Promotion Nintendo had to play it safe with the marketing. They couldn't completely copy Sony or Microsoft as they were clearly aimed at more "hardcore" gamers, but if they went too soft, they'd have another Wii U on their hands. They managed to hit a sweet spot between both, showing that the Polygon can be used with both AAA games like Bayonetta 4 and more family-oriented games, like Super Mario Party Deluxe. '''It was generally agreed, while the marketing was not as good as the Switch's marketting, it still spoke the message that this was more powerful than anything Nintendo had done before but still making sure their core values of family fun are still there, and "avoided another Wii U." Hardware Console Much like the PS5 and Xbox Series X, the Polygon has a custom Ryzen chip not based on their 4000 architecture. The graphics chip does not support RTX, and is similar to a mid-end/high-end GTX10/GTX16 series chip, giving it support for 4k gameplay at a minimum of 60 FPS. It has 16GB of RAM, and an in-house custom SSD, with 1TB of storage in both editions of the console. The console supports both USB-C and USB 4.0, as well as traditional USB 3.0 ports on the back of the system. An optical drive includes support for Polygon games, and a cartridge reader literally identical to the Nintendo Switch's cartridge reader next to the MicroSD card slot. Controller The Polygon controller looks a lot like the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. However, it is not a translucent black, instead opting for an opaque dark green similar to the console's logo. On the console are all traditional buttons, as well as two triggers on the "handles" of the controller that act as a "ZZL" and "ZZR." The Polygon Pro Controller lets you program these buttons, as well as change out things like buttons, triggers and sticks much like the Xbox Elite controller line. When '''Splatoon 3 launched, Nintendo announced a special editon Splatoon Polygon Pro controller, which later expanded to the Nintendo Legends line of Polygon Pro Controller, with custom patterns based on popular game series. The first lines were Mario, Pokémon, Yoshi, Metroid and Pikmin, which was heavily discussed to be a hint at Pikmin 4, which did inevitably release on Polygon in 2025. An exclusive Generations controller was released later in life, with the main logos of all previous Nintendo consoles around the controller, some overlapping each other. Unlike any other Nintendo console, Polygon supports Keyboard and Mouse, for use with supported games and a web browser. While Nintendo themselves usually don't support the feature, games like Call of Duty and Fortnite do, as well as the built in web browser. Release Nintendo Polygon was released December 2nd, 2022. The base edition came with a standard Polygon Controller, the Nintendo Polygon, a HDMi cable (though the console supported DisplayPort, hinting at >60FPS support later into life) and a power cable. The deluxe editon came with the Polygon Pro Controller, now more akin to the Xbox Elite Series 2 controller with customisable triggers and control sticks, the Nintendo Polygon, a HDMi and DisplayPort cable and a power cable. On the Deluxe Edition, Super Mario Galaxy 3 is also preinstalled. The Polygon had a good reception. While not surpassing the Switch in 1st year sales, it would eventually surpass it with the release of new games, like Splatoon 3, Bayonetta 4 and especially 'Super Smash Bros 6 (working title)'. Post-Launch Shortly after launch, a major network outage on Nintendo Online was reported, which lasted around a day and a half, varying slightly for some users. As an apology, a free 3 months of Nintendo Online was given to all Switch and Polygon users, and deluxe edition purchasers got an extra 6 months on top of their existing year. In January 2024, Nintendo announced that they were no longer developing 1st party games for the Nintendo Switch family of systems, instead directly focusing on games for Polygon. Much like the Wii U, the last game for Switch would be The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild III, which would launch for both Switch and Polygon. The Switch edition would come with a free Polygon shirt, and the Polygon edition came with extra content, like more shrines and weapons to be found across the map. Software The UI of the Polygon fixed many of people's issues with the Switch's UI. With the updated RAM and SSD speeds of the system, it was possible to give the same responsivness and launch speeds of the Switch's UI with the additonal features of folders, themes, custom ordering and more. There is now a 10 user limit on the system, with custom layouts for each user. Online Services Nintendo Online now have dedicated servers for each game. Polygon still uses Nintendo Switch Online, however it has now been rebranded to Nintendo Online to include the Polygon branding. The price is still the same, but to promote Polygon, Nintendo introduced GameCube Online, with a wireless Gamecube controller (in a traditional shell, unlike the Wavebird) purchasable separately exclusive to Polygon. Some games include Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Mario Sunshine, Pikmin 1 and Pikmin 2. Games Polygon games are purchasable on the Nintendo eShop, or at a physical retailer. The disks are based off of 4k Blu-Ray disks. Manuals are distributed digitally. Launch Titles The Nintendo Polygon launched with 19 launch titles, some being Nintendo Switch ports with more content or better graphics, others being original games. 1st Party Titles *Super Mario Galaxy 3 *Super Mario Galaxy Deluxe (Switch Port) *Nintendo Kart **Mario Kart Tour: Expanded Horizons (Free with Nintendo Kart) *Metroid Prime Trilogy: UHD 2nd Party Titles *Skylanders: ShapeShifters *Skylanders: Reignited Trilogy (Working Title) *Sonic The Hedgehog (2021) *Sonic Mania 2 **Sonic Mania 2 Plus (DLC) 3rd Party Titles *Just Dance 2023 *Call of Duty: Ghosts 2 *Assassin's Creed: Ragnarok *Grand Theft Auto VI *Bully: Snitches Get Stitches **Bully: Polygon Edition (Discounted if bought with Bully SGS) *The Elder Scrolls VI: Black Marsh *NBA 2k23 *Minecraft: Bedrock Edition Fantendo Titles Any game that has ''Polygon Games ''in their categories will be automatically added to this list (after a purge or edit). You don't need to ask for permission to 'develop' for Nintendo Polygon, just add the category to your game and purge this page. Gallary Nintendo polygon box art.png|The box art of the Polygon (free to use). step ahead studios.png|The logo of Step Ahead Studios, the company behind the console.|link=Step Ahead Studios Polygon logo.png|The Polygon's logo, seen in a short animation before any game trailer. Category:Home Consoles Category:9th Generation Consoles Category:Fan Consoles Category:Articles under Construction Category:Consoles Category:Game Consoles Category:Nintendo Polygon